Sellersville man sentenced in assaults

Drug made 19-year-old feel like "Superman,' attorney says.

When Joshua David Herder stole an ambulance and led police on a low-speed chase through Upper Bucks, his attorney said, he felt like "Superman -- like he could do anything."

That's how Deputy Public Defender Bradley Bastedo described his client's state of mind the morning of March 27, when he broke out of a psychiatric ward at Grand View Hospital in West Rockhill Township, pushed aside several employees who tried to restrain him and got behind the wheel of the ambulance.

On Tuesday, Herder pleaded guilty to terroristic threats and aggravated assault before Bucks County Judge John J. Rufe, who sentenced the 19-year-old Sellersville man to one to two years in the county jail. Herder also admitted waving a knife at two priests at St. Isidore's Catholic Church in Quakertown and assaulting Quakertown Police Chief James McFadden, who went into the church to take Herder into custody.

Herder has spent several months at Norristown State Hospital since his arrest. Following his release from jail, Rufe directed that Herder remain on probation for five years and undergo psychiatric counseling during that period.

Bastedo attributed Herder's actions in March to his use of the drug phencyclidine, known on the street as PCP. Phencyclidine was formerly used as an anesthetic, but its legal use was discontinued in the 1960s because it left patients delusional.

Bastedo said there is no question that Herder was delusional the morning of March 26 when he showed up at St. Isidore's with an 18-inch knife demanding to speak with the "cardinal."

"The drug had an effect on Joshua," Bastedo told Rufe. "It made him paranoid and fearful. It also made him feel like Superman -- like he could do anything."

According to Deputy District Attorney Robert A. Mancini, Herder forced his way into the church and drew the knife on the Rev. John Ackerman and the Rev. Frederick Riegler. After Herder was taken into custody at the church, he was taken to Grand View Hospital, Mancini said, where he was to remain under psychiatric observation.

The next morning, Mancini said, Herder escaped from the psychiatric ward, pushed aside hospital employees and stole the Perkasie Ambulance Squad vehicle, which was idling in front of the medical center. Mancini said he drove the ambulance back to Quakertown. Police cars fell in behind the ambulance and followed the vehicle to St. Isidore's, where Herder parked and entered the church. He was taken into custody again, Mancini said, but not before he struck McFadden in the head.

Herder told Rufe he was "ashamed" of his behavior. "I'm deeply sorry for what I've done," he said.

Following his release from jail, Herder said, he hopes to join an uncle who builds homes on Indian reservations.